The Hunger Games: Life with the Mellarks
by K-OfTheSouthernIsles
Summary: This is to fill the gap between the end of MockingJay and the epilogue. I start with the ending words of MockingJay. I hope you enjoy. Peeta/Katniss. Rated T because it's not really a K story, but nothing bad in here. Thanks.
1. Starting Our Lives

Chapter 1: Starting Our Lives

Katniss POV

_So after, when he whispers," You love me. Real or not real?" __I tell him, "Real."_

Every now and then I think about what Gale told Peeta when they thought I was asleep. _"Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can't __survive without." _And I guess he was right. I can't survive without Peeta. He takes care of me and I take care of him. Sometimes he needs to go off and shake away those bad thoughts that the Capitol brainwashed him with. I can still see the marks on his wrists where he used to press them against his handcuffs. When he stares at them I gently take them in my hands and kiss them lightly. Then he tells me how pretty he thinks I am and heads off to make something to munch on.

"Hey, Katty. Come here and taste this." Peeta shouts from the kitchen. He has his own bakery but when he doesn't have to be at work he stays with me so I'm not alone. As I stand up I gently pet the top of Buttercup's head and he gives a half snarl. We live in the Victors Village but now we live together. He stays and makes money at his shop and I go hunt then trade where ever I can. Twelve is slowly growing back. People are no longer trapped to their district so we get a lot of visitors. My mother rarely visits, because everything and everyone reminds her of Prim.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Wait. Sit down at the table and close your eyes." He demands nicely and kisses my forehead. He sets something that smells sweet but not too much; just perfect.

"Okay. Open them." He says and sounds happy. I open to find a smooth chocolate cake that is about six inches wide and long. And in white letters it said 'Katniss Everdeen will you become Katniss Mellark?' I turned to took at him but he was down on one knee and had to look down. He had the pearl that he gave me in the arena turned into a ring.

"Will you, Katty? Will you marry me? I need you like water and like breath. I don't know where I would be if I didn't have you. Maybe I would be dead or still being tortured. But without you there is no meaning in life. So will you please become Katniss Mellark? "He pleads. I'm speechless so I just nod my head, yes. He grabs me tightly in a hug.

"I promise you. I will not fail as a husband or a father or anything else I'm going to be." He says excitedly.

"Father?" I question.

"We are going to have kids, right?"

"Well, I don't know. You just asked me to marry you. We're not even married and you're already wondering about kids?"

"We don't have to talk about it right now. Let's go tell Haymitch." He grabs me by the hand and we nearly take flight out of here. We are laughing at each others silliness and then knock on Haymitch's front door. We were still laughing at each other when he answered the door.

"What is all the commotion about?" He asks in his usual drunken stupor.

"Look, Haymitch." I say and hold out my hand. It takes him a minute to focus on it but he finally gets it.

"Well. Looky there." He says.

"We are going to have dinner later. Want to come?" Peeta asks and wraps his arm gently place his arm around me.

"What time?"

"Seven-thirty. See ya then?"

"Whatever." Haymitch shrugs his shoulders then shuts the door in our face. I kind of don't want to sit in the house until dinner, so I suggest this.

"Peeta, let's go to the lake. You know the one where my father used to take me?" I ask.

"Sure. You show me the way." He smirks. He's been there 10 times but he plays dumb. I take his hand and we admire all the flowers and animals that will soon be our meals. We strip off to our underwear and swim around. We swam around until 6 then got out, dried off, and headed back to make dinner.

"How does spaghetti and garlic bread sound?" Peeta asks.

"Sounds great. Hey, I'm going to head over to Haymitch's and get him cleaned up and smell half way decent." I say and kiss him good bye. I open Haymitch's door without knocking and kick my way through. I find him at the table in a dirty white shirt and black pants. I don't feel like playing this game with him so I just fill a empty wine bottle full of cold water and pour it down his back then quickly jump out of the way in case he pulls out his knife. He didn't he just through out his fists.

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"Getting you cleaned up. Now go upstairs." I point and he mumbles. I beat him up there and cut the cold water and I leave so he can undress. I throw a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, soap, and a rag at him.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" He yells.

"Find out!" I yell from his room. I'm trying to find something for him to wear. I found a semi clean shirt and pants that I washed last week. It'll do. I set them neatly on his bed and left the room. I didn't stay I went back to my house. When to the kitchen and plopped down in a chair and watched Peeta for a while.

"You look like you just fought a bear." He says while he examines me.

"Might as well."

"Aw. Will cake for dessert make it better?" I smile in reply. Not long after that Haymitch knocks at the door and I roll my eyes then go to answer it. I open to find him with an unopened bottle of wine and his collar popped.

"Where's the party, Sweetheart?" He asks. I nod and smirk then point him to the kitchen.

"Peeta!" Haymitch greets him.

"Hey-Mitch." Peeta always has to make that joke. I go to help Peeta carry plates and drinks. We have a pleasant dinner better than expected. You never know what will happen with these two. After Haymitch leaves, we clean up the mess then I head for the shower. I brush my hair and let it hang loose. I'm overwhelmed with love right now, and I'm not the lovey-dovey kind. Me and Peeta are soon to be married, it don't take months and months to plan a wedding like they do in the Capitol, or did. We may even be married by tomorrow after noon. I would feel bad if I didn't have my old prep team come help me. This is what they've looked forward to this for so long, it would be a crime in their books. I guess I'll give them a call. I some find myself surrounded by Peeta's comforting arms, like when we were on the train. We lay in silence until Peeta asks me something.

"Are you happy?"

"I am." We share a kiss then he wraps his arms around me again and we drifted to sleep. What did you think?

_**Should there be more? Please review. Thanks for reading. ^_^ Kiss. Kiss.**_


	2. Tears

Chapter 2: Tears

Katniss POV

I wake up before Peeta, and wondered into the woods. I didn't want to wake him up that's my only reason I'm going. I grabbed my bow and arrows just in case. It proved helpful; I got 4 squirrels, 2 turkey, 3 wild hogs, and a 3 ducks. I loaded them in my hunting satchel, and headed back home. We've got this thing we do, some of the people in Seam gets together and we are slowly cleaning the mess from the bomb, and after we finish a crew of workers come and builds whatever we need most. So far we have a hospital, we are almost done with the Hob, and working on taking down the fence that used to be between the district and the woods. I dropped the meat off at Greasy Sae's then headed off to find Peeta. He probably is out working. I looked around until I found him. He was standing in the middle of what used to be his family's bakery. His eyes are watered up with tears, it all went crazy when I laid my hand on his shoulder. The tears came down like a silent waterfall.

"Why?" He asks and I hug him tightly. I had nothing to say that would help so I remained quiet. His tears ran down his cheeks and off his face and fell to my arms. I hurts to know I did this. If we could've just killed each other in the arena we wouldn't be in this mess. We sink to our knees and begin to search through the rubble. He finds mother's jewelry box, one of his father's favorite baking pans, and a family photo. He puts his finds in a bag that he happens to find. I see his face scrunches up as if he's in pain. I realize he's having a flashback of what he was brainwashed with, and needs to air. I begin to walk away when he calls out for me.

"Please, don't leave me. I can control myself. So, please don't leave. I need you right now. " He reaches his hand out for me to take it. He's right he can control it. I take his hand and he pulls me to his side.

"I always need you. How about we see what Greasy Sae's got cooking for lunch?" I say.

"Ok. I didn't eat breakfast so that sounds good." He wraps his arm around my waist like so many times before. G. Sae has made wild dog stew with cut up potatoes and carrots. It was quite yummy. Peeta looked really down so I let him pick at his stew and I left to find some work. I work at cleaning out houses and tears them apart for a while until my back starts to hurt. I slid down a wall and close my eyes.

"Here you go." A familiar voice says.

"Gale!" I shout and jump up to hug him and knock the water bottle out of his hand. He hugs me back.

"Catnip! I heard the good news. You and Peeta... going to get married."

"Yeah." I say and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I've come to help volunteer my work to my hometown." He says.

"Well, it's not like 13 where you get a schedule. You just find someone that needs help and help them." I shrug my shoulder. I take him by his hand and drag him to the Hob to show him the work that has been done since he's left. Flavius and the rest of the team helping around the decorating and fashion shops. Effie is a supervisor, she get the tools we need. I got Gale to work with the team that was working on rebuilding the school and told him I'd be back later to get him. I took off to find Peeta, when I find him he's shirtless and sweaty, and if you inquire to know where his shirt was it was tucked in the back pocket of his pants. He was busy working on cutting wood for rebuilding the church, in fact he didn't notice me and elbowed me in the stomach and hard too.

"Katty! Are you ok? I didn't even see you. Did I hurt you?" He asks and supports me around my waist. I coughed because he knocked the air out of me.

"I'm fine." I manage to say.

"Why were you standing so close?"

"I was trying to get your attention."

"Why?"

"Because Gale has come to help. Isn't that nice?"

"I guess."

"How are you?" I ask. I'm concerned because about his well being, it takes a lot to make Peeta cry.

"I'm fine now that your here." He says and kisses my hand. We go to find my old prep team and tell them the news of our wedding. They rant on and on about how honored they were that we picked them to do our wedding.

"Let's go home. It's getting late."

"Doesn't Gale need a place to stay?" He asks and takes my hand as we walk down the street.

"It didn't even cross my mind. Want to swing by the school? That's where he's working."

"Sure." He shrugs his shoulders. We wonder down there and find Gale is hurt. He's has fallen and hurt some of his ribs, and probably is bruised up.

"Good thing we came by. We came to offer you a place to stay." I say.

"Thanks." He walks with a limp beside me. I wrap my arm under his arms to support him.

"This reminds me of one of the first times Gale and I went hunting. We were sitting in a tree, I shot a squirrel, we were going down to collect it, Gale's foot got caught in a branch, and completely broke. I had to help him walk. It was quite funny the stories we came up with to hide the fact that we had been in the woods." I say.

"What? It was more like I shot the squirrel and you pushed me out of the tree." Gale jokes.

"I remember you limping and Katniss supporting you. I was in the kitchen with my dad and I just so happen to see the two of you. I was jealous because you two got to go outside and play while I was trapped inside." Peeta confesses.

"Looks like I'm the jealous one now." Gale remarks. I give him a little nudge in the side to indicate that he needs to shut up.

"What?" Peeta asks. I give Gale a face that says 'If you say one word I'll kill you'.

"I mean now I have to work inside too, at my real job. So I understand and I'm jealous of the people outside." Gale lies. We arrive at our house and I tell Peeta to go get some pillows and sheets.

"You can sleep on the couch if you want or in the spare bedroom. Your pick." Peeta says as I walk to our bedroom.

"The spare room sounds fine." Gale says and I shut the door. I change into some pajamas that Cinna made along with my weddings dresses and MockingJay outfit. I miss Cinna so much. He was like a brother or even more than that, like a best guy friend but not your boyfriend. I crawl into the bed and wait for Peeta. I can't sleep without him. He's like my personal sedative. I chew on my nails for a while and then quit when I bit into the quick. I lay down and adjust the pillows into a comfortable position. I close my eyes briefly and when I open them again Peeta is looking at me like I'm a priceless French painting and with all the love in the world. I bring my hand up and place it on his cheek. He places his hand over mine then kisses it.

"I love you. I cross my heart." He smiles at me. I scoot closer to him and let him wrap his arms around me until I felt safe, and only then can I fall to sleep.

_**How was it? Please review so I know what to do. Hope you liked it. **_

_**Thanks. ^_^ Kiss. Kiss.**_


	3. Play Times and Hard Times

Chapter 3: Play Times and Hard Times

Katniss POV

I'm awakened by the large amount of laughter floating up from the kitchen. I stumble out of bed and head for the shower. I let the hot water run off my body, and I breathe in the steam. I dry off and dress in my usual pants and shirt. I grab the rail and make my way down the steps. As I walk into the kitchen I'm greeted by a normal looking Gale (besides the bruises) but as for Peeta he looks like a powery ghost.

"What happened?" I ask and pull my hair up in a ponytail.

"He was-" Gale tried to say but was laughing to hard.

"I reach up to get some flour, I didn't grip it tight enough , and it came out all over me. " He explained. His blue eyes stood out like sapphires.

"It's a good thing you're good looking. You are so clumsy." I say.

"I know, but you're always there to save me." He says and wraps his arms around my waist in a hug. He goes off the clean himself and I begin to clean the mess. Gale silently begins to help.

"You don't have to do that." I say.

"It's flour not concrete slabs. I'm fine I don't even hurt that much any more."

"You still look bad." I wipe flour from the counter.

"Gee thanks. I can't say to much about you either. I mean just look at you." He jokes.

"Oh really?" I say and behind my back I pick up a handful of flour and chuck it at him. It was intended to hit the back of his head but he turned around and got a face full of it. His face was priceless. Then he reaches for his own handful.

"No! I already took a shower!" I laugh and grab a baking pan to block what he might throw. As he throws it I jump out of the way and Peeta gets hit.

"Are you serious?" He asks and takes the wet rag from his shoulder then passes it aside.

"Run!" I say. I grab a big cup and scoop some flour into it and take off. I still have my make-shift shield. Normally wasting food is frowned upon but there was no saving it. So no, we are not wasting it.

We each take off in different directions. I go upstairs, Gale heads for the living room, and I didn't even see where Peeta went. I quietly shut the door to our bedroom and crawl underneath the bed. I slow my breathing when the door opens. I see Gale's boots, he checks behind the door and behind the shower curtain. While he's in there I take a dash for the window.

"Later." I say and jump for the tree outside my window. For about 5 seconds I'm flying. I grab a limb and pull myself up. When I see the coast is clear I make a dash to the front door and get inside. I catch my breath. I heard someone outside the door. I stood on the other side so that when they closed the door they were trapped. I held my breath as the mysterious being took careful steps. Now. I flung my cup of flour at their face but held the handle.

"Snap! Haymitch, I'm sorry." I say and dust his suit off.

"What the-" He began. As I was explaining to Haymitch what was going on, two cups of flour is pour on my head. I turn around to see the culprit but it's not one set of eyes that I see but two.

"What? Are you two in a Career pack?" I ask then quickly regretted it. Peeta's eyes went dead. He's having another flashback, I give Haymitch and Gale a nod and take off to the bathroom to clean myself off. I return and everyone is sitting at the table enjoying tea. I take a seat next to Peeta then lean over and lay on him, and he just lays an arm over me carefully and carries on with his conversation.

"Peeta this is the best cup of tea I've had in...years." Haymitch compliments.

"Thank you. It's my favorite too." He returns. After Peeta takes a sip and sets his cup down; I take a sip from it. I can taste green tea and his a hint a mint leaves. I set it back on the table. He absentmindedly pets my hair as the three guys talk. I'm off in my own world thinking about who knows what. I sit up when they get quiet.

"That was the most fun I had in a long time." I say and smooth my hair down.

"How long are you staying, Gale?" Haymitch asks.

"I was staying until the end of the week but I guess until I get better." He shrugs.

"I guess your not going to work, are you?" I ask him.

"I can work."

"Don't be stupid! I'm going to stay home too." I make up an excuse and Peeta shots me look like 'What?'.

"Peeta can you come help me real quick?" I say to hint I need to talk to him. I pull him into our bedroom and close the door.

"What are doing?" He asks impatiently.

"The sooner he gets better the sooner he can get back to work." I say.

"So you're just going to treat him like a Prince until then?" He snaps.

"No! I thought it would be nice to let him rest for a day then tomorrow he can get back and help a little."

"Why do you care so much!" He's getting really loud.

"Because he was my best friend for nearly 10 years! And despite what others may think he still thinks of me as a friend too!"

"Anytime he comes around you think that we all are the innocent little kids that we once were! And you think that you have to take care of people, and he knows that, and is taking advantage of that!"

"Why do you care."

"I don't care what you do. Go join your merry little band of hunters or whatever. I'm over it." He says and sits down on the edge of the bed. That hits me like a lightening bolt. I feel tears swelling up in my eyes. I open the door and run down the stairs and straight out the door. I keep running until I make it to my lake. I'm so breathless that I just collapse over into the water. The cold water feels like what I felt like when he told me he didn't care.

Is it true? Does Peeta really not care about me anymore. Is it over? I get out of the water and find a hidden cave. It's hidden by a line of trees carefully placed by my dad, and here is where I hide my extra bow and arrows, he used it when we went late night hunting. I didn't even show Gale this place. They might come looking around the lake but where my cave is you can overlook the lake. I also keep a sleeping bag, a container for water, and a few knives. All left for when me and my dad came here. I stumble into the cave and grab the sleeping bag so I can inhale the smell of my father. I burry my face in the blanket and cry. It's still daylight when I look up. There's a pounding in my head and my nose running like crazy. I quiet myself for a second because I thought I heard something.

"KATNISS! KATNISS!" Gale screams and sounds out of breathe.

"KATNISS! PLEASE COME OUT! I DIDN'T MEAN TO CAUSE ANY OF THIS!" He bends over and places his hands on his knees. Why? Why me? Why am I the one who always has to make the hard decision? Huh? I just want to be left alone for a week. I don't want to talk to anyone.

"KATNISS!" This time it's Peeta's voice. I want to run ,crying, into his arms and let him hold me until we die but I can't look at him right now. After what he said to me.

"KATTY. YOU KNOW I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" He yells.

"WELL THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID IT, STUPID!" Gale screams at Peeta.

"ITS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS WHAT I SAID. NONE OF THIS WOULD'VE HAPPPENED IF HAD JUST KEPT YOU'RE 'HAPPY GO LUCKY' BUTT AT HOME." Peeta shoves Gale.

"IF YOU WHERE MORE TRUSTWORTHY AND HADN'T HAVE COME CLOSE TO CHOCKING HER TO DEATH, MAYBE THEN I COULD TRUST YOU WITH HER." Gale shoves him back into a tree making him trip.

"WHAT? FEELING BIG AND BAD BECAUSE YOU CAN PICK ON THE INVALID?" Peeta jumps up and grabs Gale's shirt and then punches his face. Gale falls but brings Peeta down with him. They are fighting like dogs and cats. I see blood running from Gale's nose and from Peeta's forehead.

_**Cliffhanger! Got to love them. Hey. Let me know how I did and what you **__**think I should do. Please review because when I check my e-mail and I **__**see it's full of review alerts; I feel love and all that love goes into **__**my stories. Thanks. ^_^ Kiss. Kiss.**_


	4. It's Happening

Chapter 4: It's happening

Katniss POV

I can't take it anymore. Everywhere I go, and anything I do someone always ends up hurt. I'm just so sick of it all.

"STOP IT!" I stand up and scream. I stomp my way down to them. Both of them instantly stop what they do and stare at my red puffy eyes.

"Jerk." Gale says to Peeta and scampers to his feet. Peeta takes more time.

"Will you two just act your ages! Gale, you don't have any business in our relationship." I say and Gale's face drops like he just witnessed his own funeral. Peeta smirks at him.

"And you! I don't even know where to start. You said you're over it. Over what, Peeta?" I ask and begin to shake again with tears.

"I-" He begins.

"I'm so mad and mostly hurt that I don't want to hear it right now. I'm going home. And you two are coming because you look like who knows what." I say and walk between them and leave them there dumbfounded. I keep walking and then I heard their feet begin to break twigs and crunchy leaves as they catch up with me. I don't want them to be anywhere near me. The walk home was silent. We get home by what I assume to be 7:30. I set them in chairs at the table. First I hand Gale an ice pack for his nose, then I wet a rag and go over and stand in front of Peeta. I may not be a healer but I can take care of miner injuries. I gently wipe new and old blood from his face, and then get him his own ice bag for his blacked-eye. I take one more look over of his face in case I missed something. I absorb that all the damage to Peeta is that his eye is blacked, a busted lip, and a gash near his hairline from where Gale shoved him to the ground.

"I'm real sorry." Peeta says and looks down at his fingers.

"Me too." Gale says. I move over and wipe away his blood too. I see his nose is still bleeding pretty badly, and his lip as well is busted. I give him two wadded up gauzes to him for his nose. He looks kind of ridiculous with those hanging out of his nose. I still have a horrible headache. I could take some of those special pills but we need to save those for when we actually need them.

"I have a headache so I'm going to lay down and try to sleep. If something happens; you can wake me, but otherwise. Don't." I say and wrap my arms around myself and go my bed. I flop down and inhale deeply to calm myself. I roll over and inhale a pillow that smells like Peeta's shampoo. I hold it close and inhale it more. No matter what he says or whatever happens; I don't want to lose the boy with the bread. Ever.

I allow myself to sleep. I might be scared of what lies in my dreams but I have to escape reality. In dreams you can't really die and right here right now I feel as though I might. I have a nightmare that after I wake Peeta and I break off the engagement and Gale has died. I want to wake up but I can't.

"Katniss." A voice is calling me.

"Katniss." This voice has a got an ounce of worry creeping in. Then, I jump up in the bed. Peeta is in the room with me, but he's asleep with his arms over me. My jump awoke him.

"Are you ok? What happened?" He silently asks. I'm still mad at him, but I just had the heebie-jeebies scared out of me. When I see that everything is ok, I fall over in relief. Relief that it was just a dream and I was safe. I reach over and hug his neck. I feel like Scrooge when he wakes up on Christmas morning with a new found happiness and understanding.

"I'm sor-" I begin but Peeta puts his hand over my mouth.

"If you say you're sorry I will scream. You are not the one who needs to be sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. I knew he was your best friend but when he's around I feel like he's trying to take you away. He still thinks of me as the little brainwashed boy with the bread, and I might still be. I'm sorry." He apologizes.

"You're my little brainwashed boy with the bread." I say and kiss him.

"I want to be."

"Good."

"You love me, real or not real?" He sometimes has to ask, either to bring a laugh or he just has to know.

"Real." I say and place my hand on his cheek. It's probably around 4:30 in the morning, most likely everyone is asleep, and when I say everyone I mean Gale. He must feel like crap, and I hope Peeta didn't make a bigger deal about everything than it already was. I should be mad at Gale, and I should even hate him for what he did. But I'm not the type a person to hold a grudge for too long. We spend the rest of the night holding each other close. We both go back to sleep, but he falls asleep before I do and I listen to his breathing. It soothes and reminds me of when we were on the train. I don't dream I just in that peaceful black space.

I wake up before Peeta and slip to the bathroom. I get out and Peeta is still asleep. I step outside our room and down to the guest bedroom to apologize to Gale. I open the door, but the bed is empty and made. I go downstairs to the living room. Empty. So is the kitchen. I leave Peeta a little note saying that I have already headed out to work. I go in pursuit of Gale. Where, where, where? Maybe the school. That's where I go first. There are a few people but not Gale. I go over to Greasy Sae's and go in.

"Have you seen Gale? I can't find him." I ask. She simply points to a dark figure in the farthest corner. I thank her and go back to him.

"Gale." I say and he jumps as if I scared the crap out of him.

"Katniss. What is it?" He asks like he just got back from a funeral.

"Who's Katniss. I only respond to..." I coax him to say my nickname.

"Catnip." He finishes.

"Yes?" I return with a smile.

"I thought you never wanted to see me again. You have Peeta. He won." He whispers.

"He won my heart. Yes. But I never said I never wanted to see you again. You are still the guy who took me hunting on early summer days to escape reality, I hope. You are still the guy who helped me watch both of our families' kids when our mothers had to go do business, when you could've sneaked out with your other friends." I say and hug him lightly.

"Thank goodness." He returns. At that moment Effie burst through the door with my old prep team in tote. I have no idea what is going on.

"Katniss, we've got everything done. All we need is a camera crew, a few witnesses, and you and Peeta. And the camera crew is just down the street filming and I'm sure they wouldn't mind filming your wedding." She blurts. I have no idea what to say. What I do next is on a stupid impulse.

"Gale, come with me. I want you to walk me down the aisle." I say.

"What?" Both Effie and Gale ask.

"Please. Just do it." I say and take him by the hand then start running.

"Slow down." He says from behind me. I run to my house and let go of Gale and run up to my room where I see a beautiful plain white wedding dress. It's strapless and beautiful. I walk closer and see a note lying beside the dress. On the top side it said Katniss in Cinna's handwriting. I wearily pick it up and sit down on the bed then open it.

_My Dearest and Beautiful Katniss,_

_If you're reading this then it's obvious that I'm not there with you. Since you're already this then I should say my congrats and I'd kiss your cheek, but we can pretend. I hope you know that I really wish I could be there. I trust my helpers to do what I've told them to __do, but no matter what I know you're beautiful- with or without __make-up. I will say once more for emphasis, I wish I could be there, __but I'll be watching you from somewhere better than imaginable. Be __strong my fearless Mocking Jay. Make me proud. Lots of love and kisses._

_~Cinna_

I put the note on the dresser next to the bed. I grab the note back and hold it close to my heart. Why? Why did they take my poor and innocent Cinna from me? My team walks in and I cram the note securely in my dresser drawer.

"I see you've seen the note." Flavius says and everyone surrounds me in a hug. They back off and demand I take a bath and that I scrub while they get everything ready. I get out and towel dry myself from head to toe. I find myself once again being rubbed down and done up by my team. They tell me of latest news from the Capitol and different things they find funny. They pick and poke at me for a few hours and then when they take a step back and observe their work I know I'm done. I stand up and take a look in a hand-held mirror. I'm a Beauty Base Zero with some mascara and highlights around my eyes. My dark hair is curled and the top is pulled back in a clip yet curls lay neatly around my head.

"This is what Cinna told us to do... with a few altercations." One says but I'm too baffled at myself to tell who. This is the only time I will ever consider myself attractive, and that might be pushing it.

"Can we mention Cinna as little as possible? If I hear his name again I might ruin my make-up." I say and turn their way. They nod and place a little veil over my hair and face.

"Please, smile. I makes you prettier than any make-up can."

"Thanks." I reply. They put my dress down so I can step into it. They lace me into it and it fits just right. I turn to straighten out the dress, and when I look at the bed again there is a skimpy feather covered outfit. Cinna's doing. I guess he had to get me to laugh somehow. I smile.

"You forgot to put that in her luggage?" Octavia asks. I blush at the thought of wearing that. I didn't know, but in the hours that I've been getting gussied up that my house has been turned into a regal get away.


End file.
